Former Glendora Unified School District employee sentenced for embezzlement in California

 A longtime employee with Glendora Unified School District will spend six months and four days in county jail, 270 days in house arrest and must pay back $430,682 for embezzling district funds, officials said Thursday,

Jane Robison, public information officer for the District Attorney’s Office, said Cynthia Schlig, 57, of Upland pleaded no contest Wednesday to one count of forgery and one count of embezzlement by a public officer.

In addition to jail time and house arrest, she said Schlig was also sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $430,682 in restitution.

“Also, the prosecutor seized the defendant’s home, and it’s in escrow. The proceeds - between $85,000 to $90,000 - will go to the school district as part of the restitution,” Robison said.

Schlig worked 35 years at Glendora Unified and was a former accounting specialist in the finance department. She was originally charged with two counts of forgery, one count of embezzlement and two counts of misappropriation.

Robison said the other counts were dismissed at Wednesday’s sentencing which was held at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.

She said Schlig embezzled money from July 7, 2007 to Jan. 6, 2012. Glendora Police said Schlig took more than $350,000 from the district.

According to Robison, the restitution amount includes the funds taken plus the cost of investigating the case.

It’s not clear what the ex-accounting specialist did with the stolen money. The detective who investigated couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Schlig was arrested Aug. 20 after a 19-month investigation by officials from Glendora Unified, Glendora police and the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit.

Police said forensic audits of Schlig’s work from the previous five years revealed an elaborate scheme of masking incoming cash with check deposits and altering financial documents, among other tactics.

The district’s business office administration discovered the irregularities and made the initial report of the missing funds in January 2012, Superintendent Robert Voors said in an earlier interview with the paper.

District officials said Schlig resigned when the irregularities were found.